Laura Jane Grace Surprise-Releases ‘At War With the Silverfish’ EP

On Wednesday (Sept. 22), Laura Jane Grace fans got an unexpected gift from the Against Me! singer-songwriter when the musician suddenly released the solo EP At War With the Silverfish. With no forewarning, the EP's seven songs arrived this week as a total surprise.

It's a tack Grace took with her last full-length solo effort, Stay Alive, which was surprise-released in October 2020. Before that, the Against Me! frontwoman issued Brought to Rot, the 2018 platter that amounted to her debut solo album, under the banner of Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers. Against Me!'s latest studio set, Shape Shift With Me, emerged in 2016.

Listen to the new EP toward the bottom of this post.

In a press statement, Grace tied the notion of the surprise release — or just surprise in general — to her songcraft, saying, "I've learned that if you share your experience with good intentions that the universe will always surprise you with abundant return. Every song is an act of faith; you don't necessarily know why you're singing it other than you know you've got to sing it."

Per Stereogum, the EP "veers around Grace’s map of musical interests. Opener 'Three of Hearts,' for instance, is a strident acoustic folk-punk song, a bit like what [she] was making when Against Me! was in its infancy."

This year, Grace marked three years of sobriety. In August, she played a sold-out show at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, the Philadelphia-area business that became a meme following a Donald Trump press conference hosted there last year by the former U.S. president's then-lawyer, ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

NEW MUSIC PLAYLIST: Keep up with each week's new songs by following Loudwire's "Weekly Wire" Spotify playlist, featuring 50 tracks with updates each Friday.

Laura Jane Grace, At War With the Silverfish EP

At War With the Silverfish EP Art + Tracklist

1. "Three of Hearts"
2. "Lolo 13"
3. "Long Dark Night"
4. "Electro-Static Sweep"
5. "Day Old Coffee"
6. "Smug FuckFace"
7. "Yesterday Pt. II"